The term medical marijuana refers to using the whole unprocessed marijuana plant or the primary extracts to treat a disease or a symptom but the drug is yet to be approved or been recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as a medicine. Clinical trials of the chemicals in marijuana commonly called cannabinoids has led to the approval of two medications by the FDA that contain cannabinoids chemicals in pill forms and it is hoped by continued research there will be more medications approved. An important fact to state is that because marijuana contains chemicals that can be used to treat a range of diseases or symptoms and many people argue that it should be legalized by for medical purposes and some states have legalized marijuana for legal use.

It is good to note that one of the reasons why the marijuana plant has not been approved for medicinal use is because the FDA requires some carefully done studies (also called clinical trials) done on hundred to thousands of human subjects so that the benefits and risks of the possible medication can be determined. So far researchers on medical marijuana have not yet conducted enough large-scale marijuana studies that indicate the benefits of the marijuana plant that outweighs the risks in patients it is used to treat.

A known fact is that cannabinoids are chemicals that are related to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol that is the main mind-altering ingredient and apart from that chemical marijuana has more than a hundred cannabinoids and scientists and illegal manufacturers have produced many cannabinoids in the laboratory some of which are incredibly potent and have led to grave side effects. The body also makes its own cannabinoid chemicals that play an integral role in controlling pleasure, thinking, memory, concentration, awareness of time, body movement, pain, appetite and the senses (smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing)..

An vital fact to state is that there is an increasing interest in the marijuana chemical cannabidiol to treat some conditions such as childhood epilepsy which is a disease that makes children have violent seizures and most scientists have been rapidly breeding marijuana plants and creating CBD oil for treatment purposes and the drugs developed may not be desirable to recreational users because they are intoxicating. The two primary cannabinoids in the marijuana plant that are of medical interest are THC and CBD and one them (THC) increases appetite and decreases nausea whereas CBD does not affect the mind or behavior. It is good to state that FDA approved THC-based medications are used to improve appetite and reduce nausea and they may also be used to reduce pain, inflammation and treat muscle control problems whereas CBD can be used to alleviate pain and inflammation, managing epileptic seizures and even treating mental illnesses and addictions.